Pneumoencephlographic apparatus with means for supporting an anesthetized patient in a seated position



0, 1967 s. E. NATHANSON 3, 71

PNEUMOENCEPHLOGRAPHIC APPARATUS WITH MEANS FOR SUPPORTING AN ANESTHETIZED PATIENT IN A SEATED POSITION Filed April 6, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W W 5 RN w EA V i N M a aj W Y W: 6 Z. Z. ,7 1 9 J N r i "A 1 f f l k 4Q, L. ,4w.-l.\\ fi 5 .V/ 7 1 1 I 7 u 2, w 7 //I 6 My & w w 1dr 6 /.I/\I\\\\\\\ z m ATTORNEY 10, 1967 s. E. NATHANSON 3,297,371

PNEUMOENCEPHLOGRAPHIC APPARATUS WITH MEANS FOR SUPPORTING AN ANESTHETIZED PATIENT IN A SEATED POSITION Filed April 6, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I NVENTOR. STANLEY 5, N4 THAN50N MMW ATTORNEY United States Patent INEUMUENCEPHLOGRAPHIC APPARATUS WITH MEANS FOR SUPPORTING AN A-NESTI-IETIZED PATIENT IN A SEATED POSITION Stanley 1E. Nathanson, 14555 Figueras Road, La Mirada, Calif. 90638 Filed Apr. 6, 1964, Ser. No. 357,679

6 Claims. (Cl. 25050) This invention relates to apparatus for performing a pneumoencephlogram, i.e., roentgenography of the brain after injection of air into the ventricles.

During such a procedure, the patient is under general anesthesia and, therefore, difficult to handle for proper positioning of the skull. The present invention has for an object to provide apparatus, serving as an aid to the surgeon and attending roentgenologists, that assures a steady disposition of the skull of a patient under general anesthesia.

Another object of the inventionis to provide apparatus that includes a patient support that is especially devised for giving ready access for spinal injections during a pneumoencephlographic procedure while the patients skull is in a steady immobilized position for exposure of a photographic cassette to roentgen rays, i.e., X-rays.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the character above referred to that is readily adjustable to the size of the patient.

This invention also has for its objects to provide such means that are positive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a working position and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture, relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novel combinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear in the course of the following description, and which is based on the accompanying drawings. However, said drawings merely show, and the following description merely describes, one embodiment of the present invention, which is given by way of illustration or example only.

In the drawings, like reference characters designate similar parts in the several views.

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of pneu'moencephlographic apparatus according to the present invention, showing a patient in operative position thereon.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view as seen from the left side of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view, to a reduced scale, as taken on the line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan sectional view as taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

The apparatus that is illustrated comprises, generally, a seat board 5, a standard 6 extending from the forward portion of said board, body-holding means 7 vertically adjustably carried by said standard, a chin-engaging head support 8 vertically adjustably carried by the standard forwardly of the means 7, a frame 9 for holding cassettes C of X-ray photographic plates, a support post 10 for said frame, and means 11 for adjustably mounting the frame 9 front to back and laterally on the post 10.

The board 5 is of suitable size to accommodate a seated patient, as illustrated in FIG. 1. At the front, on each side, said board is provided with leg-accommodating recesses 15 that enable the legs of a seated patient to hang downwardly. While no padding is shown on the face of the board, the same may be suitably padded, as desired.

The standard 6 is shown as a housing disposed at the front of the board between the leg recesses 15. The same has a box-like form with front and rear walls 16 and 17, respectively, side walls 18 that preferably diverge toward the front for more comfortable accommodation of the patients legs, and a top wall 19. In this case, the front wall 16 is provided with a vertical slot 20, the rear wall 17 with a similar slot 21, and the top wall 19 with rectangular openings 22, 23 and 24 for reasons later apparent.

The body-holding means 7 firmly holds and locates the torso of a patient seated on the board 5 with the legs straddling the standard 6, as above indicated. Said means 7 is shown as a chest board 25 with a pad 26 on the face thereof toward the patent, and unpadded extensions 27 on opposite ends of said pad. The overall width of the board 25 (about sixteen inches, in practice) approximates the average width of an adult torso. A strap structure 28 is aflixed to the ends of the extensions 27, such structure advantageously comprising a generally conventional seat belt such as used in automotive vehicles. Such belt encircles the torso with the anesthetized patients arms included, and when tightened holds the patient in the firm centered position desired.

Said means 7 includes a bar 29 that extends vertically downward from the chest board 25, through the opening 22 in the top wall 19 of the standard 6, and is provided with means 30 that extends through the slot 21 for vertically adjustably locking said means 7 at a level above the board 5 according to the size of the patient.

The head-supporting means 8 is shown as a chin rest 31 with a top pad 32 on the top face thereof, the same being located forward of the chest board and thereabove. The means 8 includes a bar 33 that extends vertically downward from the chin rest 31 and through the opening 23 in the top board of the standard 6. Said bar 33 is provided with a series of longitudinally spaced holes 34 adapted to receive a cross pin 35 that, according to which hole is used, determines the adjusted height of the chin rest above the top of the standard. The adjustment of the means 8 is made such that the patients head has a forwardly bent position, as limited by the chin rest, with the skull substantially centered over the chin rest with the patients torso rearward thereof, substantially as shown.

The cassette-holding frame 9 is shown as two transparent, preferably acrylic, vertically disposed panels 36 and 37, the former being located in a transverse plane forward of the chin rest and of the patients skull disposed as above explained, and the latter in a lateral position normal to the plane of the panel 36, the same being joined at a corner 38. Said panels are provided with etched lines 39 that aid in alignment of the frame, both front to rear and laterally, relative to the skull, as positioned on the chin rest 8.

The frame panels 36 and 37, on the sides thereof toward the skull-occupying area, are provided with longitudinal support guides 40 for the cassettes C, and with vertically aligned upper cassette-retaining guides 41. The latter include vertically adjustable acrylic plates 42 that, by means of slots 43 therein and lock bolts or nuts 44, may be moved between cassette releasing positions and cassette-locking positions, the latter positions being shown.

The above-described cassette-holding frame is carried by the post 10 with the adjustable means 11 interposed so that said frame may be adjusted front to back and laterally relative to said post. The post 10 extends vertically downwardly through the opening 24 in the top wall 19 of the standard 6, and is provided with means 45, that extends through the slot 20 in the front wall 16 of said standard, for vertically adjustably locking the frame 9 at a level above the board 5 and the adjusted positions of the means 7 and 8, according to the position of the patients skull. The horizontal etched lines 39 will serve as a guide for setting such vertical position of the frame 9 since the position of the patients skull may be sighted through the panels 36 and 37 and changes in the vertical position of the skull and the frame may be made, as required.

The means 11 is best shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. The same comprises an angle 46 affixed to the upper end of post and extending in a front to rear direction, a flange 47 of said angle being provided with a longitudinal slot 48. An outer longitudinal angle 49 is aflixed along the outer lower edge of the panel 36 of the frame 9, a flange 50 on said angle being provided with a longitudinal slot 51. Since the angles 46 and 49 are normal to each other, with the angle 49 resting upon the angle 46, the slots 48 and 51 intersect, albeit in adjacent planes, as seen in FIG. 4.

The cassette-holding frame 9, therefore, may be moved front to back and laterally, according to the adjustment required and as aided by the vertical etched line 39 of both panels 36 and 37. The adjustment may be locked by a bolt 52 extending through the intersecting slots 48 and 51, a toggle handle 53 pivotally connected to one end of said bolt and having camming engagement with the flange 50 of the channel 49, an abutment nut 54 on the opposite end of the bolt 52, and a compression spring 55 around said bolt, abutted at one end of the nut 54 and at its opposite end on the flange 47 of the angle 46.

The above-described frame mount provides also for rotational adjustment of the frame 9 so that the cassettes C carried thereby may be adjusted to any desired angular position in a horizontal plane relative to the patients skull.

While the foregoing has illustrated and described What is now contemplated to be the best mode of carrying out the invention, the construction is, of course, subject to modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it is not desired to restrict the invention to the particlular form of construction illustrated and described, but to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Pneumoencephlographic apparatus comprising:

(a) a support for an anesthetized patient in a seated position with the torso of the patient above the rearward portion of the support,

(b) adjustable means on the forward portion of said support and extending upwardly therefrom and provided with torso-encircling means to hold the torso of such patient immobile,

(c) a vertically adjustable support on said patient support for the patients skull while so immobilized, and

(d) a frame mounted on the adjustable means for holding cassettes of X-ray photographic plates vertically in two transverse planes at the front and one side of said skull,

(e) the support comprising a board on which the patient is seated and provided with spaced front recesses for accommodating the legs of a patient seated on the board,

(f) the mentioned adjustable means including a standard affixed to the middle front portion of the board between said recesses and adapted to be straddled by the patients legs, the mentioned torso-encircling means, the skull-supporting means, and the cassettesholdin-g frame, all extending upwardly from said standard.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the adjustable torso-holding means comprises:

(a) a padded board disposed in front of the patients chest, and

(b) a releasable belt connected to opposite ends of said board and adapted to encircle the patients torso.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the skullsupporting means comprises:

(a) a padded chin rest forward of the torso-supporting means, and

(b) a vertical member fixedly mounting said chin rest, said member being vertically adjustable relative to the patient support.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the cassette-holding frame comprises:

(a) two transparent panels rigidly joined in angle relationship,

(b) a vertically adjustable support member, and

(c) means connecting said member and one of said panels for adjusting the frame angularly in a horizontal plane.

5. Pneumoencephlographic apparatus comprising:

(a) a support for an anesthetized patient in a seated position with the torso of the patient above the rearward portion of the support,

(b) a standard afiixed to the front central portion of said support and adapted to be straddled by the legs of an anesthetized patient seated on the support,

(c) said support having recesses flanking said standard to accommodate the patients legs,

((1) independently vertically adjustable torso-holding means and skull-supporting means, the latter forward of the former and extending upwardly from the standard for immovably holding a patient so seated with his skull in a forwardly inclined position, and

(e) a frame mounted on the standard for holding cassettes of X-ray photographic plates vertically in two transverse planes at the front and one side of said skull, said frame being adjustably connected to the standard forwardly of both the torso-holding and skull-supporting means.

6. Pneumoencephlographic apparatus according to claim 5, provided with means to adjust the cassettes-holding frame angularly on a horizontal plane relative to the torso-holding and skull supporting means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1936 Broadbent 250 5/1951 Rush 25050 

1. PNEUMOENCEPHLOGRAPHIC APPARATUS COMPRISING: (A) A SUPPORT FOR AN ANESTHETIZED PATIENT IN A SEATED POSITION WITH THE TORSO OF THE PATIENT ABOVE THE REARWARD PORTION OF THE SUPPORT, (B) ADJUSTABLE MEANS ON THE FORWARD PORTION OF SAID SUPPORT AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY THEREFROM AND PROVIDED WITH TORSO-ENCIRCLING MEANS TO HOLD THE TORSO OF SUCH PATIENT IMMOBILE, (C) A VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT ON SAID PATIENT SUPPORT FOR THE PATIENT''S SKULL WHILE SO IMMOBILIZED, AND (D) A FRAME MOUNTED ON THE ADJUSTABLE MEANS FOR HOLDING CASSETTES OF X-RAY PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATES VERTICALLY IN TWO TRANSVERSE PLANES AT THE FRONT AND ONE SIDE OF SAID SKULL, (E) THE SUPPORT COMPRISING A BOARD ON WHICH THE PATIENT IS SEATED AND PROVIDED WITH SPACED FRONT RECESSES FOR ACCOMMODATING THE LEGS OF A PATIENT SEATED ON THE BOARD, (F) THE MENTIONED ADJUSTABLE MEANS INCLUDING A STANDARD AFFIXED TO THE MIDDLE FRONT PORTION OF THE BOARD BETWEEN SAID RECESSES AND ADAPTED TO BE STRADDLED BY THE PATIENT''S LEGS, THE MENTIONED TORSO-ENCIRCLING MEANS, THE SKULL-SUPPORTING MEANS, AND THE CASSETTESHOLDING FRAME, ALL EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM SAID STANDARD. 